Kim Handy-Jones, the mother of Cordale Handy, embraces one of the many people who came to remember her son. (Elijah Todd-Walden/BLCK Press)
Family and friends of Cordale Handy held an ‘angel-versary’ for him and his cousin, Brittany Glover this past Friday, with support from Black Lives Matter. The event celebrated their lives and mourned their deaths while also advocating for them both to receive justice.
Handy was killed by St. Paul police during a mental health crisis in March of 2017, while Glover was killed in a hit-and-run in Atlanta this past September.
“I know, going forward, I have to keep on fighting, and that’s fine,” Kimberly Handy-Jones said. “That’s fine with me, because my fight is not in vain. Our children’s death is not in vain.”
Cordale was 29 when he was fatally shot by police at the intersection of E. 7th and Sinnen streets in St. Paul’s East Side, less than a block from the Indigenous Roots Cultural Center where the memorial event was held. No officers were charged in his death after the Bureau of Criminal apprehension finished its investigation in December 2017. The organization Communities Against Police Brutality has opened a new investigation into Handy’s death.
Glover was struck by a vehicle in September while walking home from Bonfire ATL. Her mother, Valerie Handy Carey, said that Glover had just moved to Atlanta, and had spoken to her days before her death. Atlanta police have not made an arrest in connection to her death.
“I know that Cordale would want me to do just what I’m doing. I know Brittany would want you to do just what you’re doing,” Handy-Jones said to her sister.
The event was attended by approximately 30 people, including representatives of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Communities United Against Police Brutality and Families Supporting Families.